Texas Rangers Blog

Evan Grant, Rangers columnist and blogger for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered questions about the team on Monday. Here are the highlights:

Where the Rangers even in serious talks about trading for Garza?

The Rangers were serious about wanting Garza, but without being willing to include Mitch Moreland in the deal, they weren’t as serious about actually making the deal. The Rays wanted Moreland. The Rangers value him as their long-term first baseman. They ultimately chose not to deal Moreland, which allowed the Cubs to become much more serious players in the deal.

Any surprise names that could get invited by the Rangers to Spring Training?

Only one that I can think of is Bartolo Colon. He’s thrown in the Dominican Republic and said the Rangers are interested. Whether that’s true or not is uncertain.

How surprised do you think the Rangers were that Cliff Lee signed with Philadelphia?

How do you answer a “how” question? They were surprised and disappointed. They thought they’d made a strong offer and thought Lee enjoyed his time in Texas. But the pace of the negotiations made it clear, they were not the clear frontrunners, if they were the frontrunners at all at some point.

If you had to make a prediction, who will be the Rangers closer in September? Is Feliz a lock?

Providing he’s healthy, I believe Neftali Feliz will be the Rangers closer in September. I feel safer about making that prediction than just about any concerning this team in